Op-Ed: Public Schools Go To War Against Merit

This article originally appeared in Daily Caller on February 10, 2023

The fraying relationship between American parents and public schools was almost completely undone during the pandemic lockdowns. Public-sector unions made it abundantly clear that they worked in opposition to parental interests, and Zoom classrooms gave parents a firsthand look into what actually happened in their local schools. Many parents didn’t like what they witnessed, resulting in an explosion of interest in alternatives to traditional public education, including charters, homeschooling, and education freedom.

Now, that weakened relationship is effectively destroyed — not by the overwrought consequences of the pandemic, but by the pernicious effects of progressive ideology in its pursuit of “equity.” Revelations from the Commonwealth of Virginia show that several school districts withheld notifications of National Merit status from qualifying students. A National Merit designation carries tremendous advantages for students, especially when colleges consider admissions and financial aid. Withholding this honor is an act of hostility toward the affected students, who are thereby denied crucial opportunities when they matter the most.

Why would these Virginia school districts turn against their own students? Why would they actively seek to diminish the prospects of children entrusted to them by their parents? In a word: equity. As the Virginia-based mother, writer, and activist Asra Nomani conclusively demonstrated, school district officials became alarmed that Asian-American student populations were doing too well...

Read full op-ed in Daily Caller